U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to push for progress on the stalled ceasefire in Gaza when he meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, amid mounting concerns over the durability of truce arrangements across the region.
Reuters reported that Netanyahu said earlier this month that Trump had invited him for talks, as Washington seeks to advance plans for transitional governance and an international security force in Gaza.
Netanyahu is expected to visit Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, although the White House has yet to formally confirm the meeting and did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump has said he could meet the Israeli leader soon, while Netanyahu said on December 22 that discussions were expected to focus on the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire, as well as developments involving Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Washington has brokered ceasefires on all three fronts, but Israel remains wary that its adversaries could rebuild their military capabilities after suffering significant losses during the war.
Under Trump’s ceasefire framework, agreed by all sides in October, Israel is to withdraw from Gaza while Hamas is expected to give up its weapons and relinquish any governing role in the enclave.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week that Washington wants the transitional administration outlined in the plan to be established soon. This would include a Board of Peace and a governing body of Palestinian technocrats to administer Gaza ahead of the deployment of an international security force mandated by a United Nations Security Council resolution passed on November 17.
Despite the agreement, Israel and Hamas have accused each other of serious violations and appear no closer to implementing the more difficult steps envisaged in the next phase. Hamas has refused to disarm and has not returned the remains of the last Israeli hostage, while Israeli forces remain entrenched in about half of Gaza’s territory. Hamas has also been reasserting its control on the ground.
Israel has warned that if Hamas does not disarm peacefully, it will resume military operations to compel it to do so.
Although large-scale fighting has subsided since the ceasefire took effect in October, violence has not ended entirely. Israeli strikes have killed more than 400 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to Gaza health officials, while Palestinian militants have killed three Israeli soldiers.
The ceasefire in Lebanon is also under strain. A US-backed truce reached in November 2024 ended more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and called for the disarmament of the Iran-backed Shiite group, starting in areas south of the Litani River near Israel’s border.
Lebanon has said it is close to completing the disarmament process by the end-of-year deadline, but Hezbollah has resisted calls to surrender its weapons. Israel has described progress as partial and slow and has continued near-daily strikes in Lebanon, saying they are necessary to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its forces.
The talks between Trump and Netanyahu are expected to test whether Washington can inject fresh momentum into ceasefire efforts that remain fragile across Gaza and Lebanon, while broader regional tensions continue to simmer. - December 29, 2025
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